Only by Moonlight
by Beckeh
Summary: Severus sees a strange creature one night duelling a human, then a new tudents comes. What is this creature and who was it duelling, and why did it want the creatures blood? Severus also regains memories he never thought he'd remember. Please RR!
1. Chapter 1: More little Dunderheads

The Hogwarts lake glistened in the moon's light, relfecting its glow onto the shores of which led upto the castle, which itself was illuminated. A cool breeze swept through the trees, rustling the leaves on the Whomphing Willow, which shuddered slightly.  
  
Proffesor Severus Snape looked out onto the grounds - his only get away from the stress of being an unpopular school teacher was at night, when he could take in the skies beauty. He smirked at th full moon, knowing that his 'dear friend' Remus Lupin was either in solitary confinement as a harmless mountain wolf, or having a whale of a time roaming around as a fully transformed werewolf.  
  
It was at this time that he found himself truely at peace - he needn't worry about the future, the children whom he would have to put up with the next day, nor being shown up as a fool in front of that Potter boy...  
  
It wasn't that he hated Potter so much that Severus wished that he would just combust on the spot and burn into a thousand pieces - it was the fact that even Dumbledore, the only person who Severus truely trusted, even decided to take Potter's side, when he fully knew that Severus was in the right.  
  
His mind flashed back to the night when Sirius Black had escaped, and he shuddered.  
  
He looked down towards the lake and watched the Giant Squid that inhabited it snap its tentacles at a few Swupus (half Swan, half Dog creatures), who prompted to fly over to a safer part of the grounds. He inhaled the cool night air once more, before retiring to his chambers.  
  
He pulled off his black robes and procceded to pull on his grey night shirt, which reached to about half way down his calves. He slowly made his way over to his wooden bed, and flumped himself down onto it, and felt the effects of fatigue drift over him almost instantly.  
  
During the night Snape had decided that he needed a glass of water. He slowly clambered out of bed, rubbing his eyes like a sleepy five-year-old would. He descended a five-step flight of stairs and into his private bathroom. He grabbed a nearby cup, not bothering to inspect the inside, and turned on a silver tap that let crystal clear water run out of it. As he slowly began to swallow the contents, he noticed that the cup had been stagnating with brownish black mould-  
  
Severus threw the cup from his, spluttering out the contents.  
  
"Eeyuck," he said to himself. Where he had dropped the glass goblet lay a mess of broken glass, glittering in his bedrooms candlelight.  
  
"Shi....Accio Wand," he said with a sleepy sigh. In an instant his wand flew to him, and he caught it with two hands. With a flick of his wand the shattered goblet was returned to its original state, and was now mould free.  
  
Almost unconciously, he slowly made his way back to his bedroom, and opened the window. Doing this had become more of an initial reaction than a choice to gaze out of the window. The monn had started to dissapear over the nearby mountains, and the sky was starting to turn an orange-pink, with the odd few bright starts showing up against the near sunrise.  
  
The air was still cool....he inhaled, and he felt somewhat at peace again.  
  
But it was then that something, Severus wasn't quite sure what, crawled out of the lake, shaking off the water from what looked like its fur.  
  
Severus had never seen anything like it - it had the body of a wolf, and the wings of a Phoenix. It stood about the same height as an average sized man. It's tail looked something like a donkeys, only more elegant, as the fur (though it looked more like feathers) climbed up to bottom of the tail till about half way. Severus could see it was drooling some kind of green liquid, and was bleeding from what looked like its side - though it hurridely spread its orange-rewd glowing wings and procceded to fly over the mountains. If it was strong enough to fly, Severus figured, then it was no doubt strong enough to survive with such wounds. He watched it fly away until it was a mere black speck on the horizon. He then pulled his windows shut, and fell onto his bed, weakly pulled the covers over him, and fell into another deep sleep.  
  
"My goodness, Severus, you look like you've been dragged through a hedge backwards," Minerva McGonagall procceded to tell him, almost the instant he walked into the staff room.  
  
"I've....been having rough nights...you know..." he said, with an obvious slur in his voice.  
  
Minerva stiffled a giggle when she saw Severus' head start to droop into sleep, which was very un-Snape like.  
  
"Severus," joined in Madam Sprout, "I think you should take the day off and do nothing else but sleep, do you hear me?"  
  
"Don't be so daft, woooooman," said, as his elbow slipped off the table. He procceded to go back to his book, entitled "Magical Creatures and Where to find them". He had looked up every book in the libraby, and this was his last hope to try and find out what that strange creature was.  
  
"Well, if you're sure, then you'd best put that bloody book down and come down to the entrance hall, we have to enroll a new student."  
  
"Great," thought Severus sarcastically, "More little dunderheads to put up with." It was times like this he wished it was nightm when he could enjoy the serenity of the calm.  
  
Severus followed the other teachers down a long winding stairs which lead to the back door of the entrance hall, and they all took their usual seats.  
  
Over the course of half an hour students began to fill up the hall at their house tables, from left to right, Slytherin, of which Severus was Head of House, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, then Gryffindor. Once all the students had taken their seats, and were starting to wonder where the usual line-upo of breakfast was, Proffesor Dumbledore stood up, and commanded total attention at once.  
  
"Good Morning, Students," he said, in his usual warm tone of voice, "No doubt you are wondering were your breakfast is. Don't worry, we're not out of kitchen staff, I simply want to welcome our newest student, who has transferred from the Scottish School of Withcraft and Wizardry."  
  
Some of the students imitated scottish accents and gave a small giggle afterwards.  
  
"No need for that, surprisingly, she has a rather heavy english accent. Let me introduce, Amelia Rebecca Simander."  
  
"Please, Proffesor, I don't like my middle name..." came a quiet voice from the end of the teachers table.  
  
Amelia walked out, and Snape took note of her facial features, mentally reminding himself to give her one of Snape's trademark 'warm welcome' when he first taught her. She had a rather thin face, big brown eyes and chocolate brown hair that led down to her waist. She was slightly bent over, as if she has a stomach cramp.  
  
"And now, we must sort her!"  
  
Dumbledore pulled The Sorting Hat form behind his back. Amelia stood very still, almost rigid, as she felt its coarse material on her head.  
  
"HMMM! How very odd to place, you possess the qualities that both Gryffindor and Slytherin prize so much....hmm, but...hmm. Difficult. But I'm going to go with GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
The table on the far right clapped hard, while the other three clapped quite quietly. Amelia sat herself down on the top end of the table, next to a black haired girl who welcomed her with a warm smile, no doubt introducing her to her friends, who all smiled.  
  
"Oh, great, another Gryffindor. Joy," said Severus to himself, sarcastically.  
  
He studied her a bit more. She seemed tired, and somewhat ill. Severus shrugged it off almost immediatly, it wasn't his place to inquire to a students health, and it certainly wasn't in his character, either.  
  
TBC....so, the first chapter! Tell me what you think! 


	2. Chapter 2: Chido

Disclamier: Snape, and the rest of the HP characters don't belong to me, They belong to the great JK. sigh  
  
Only Amelia and the made up species are mine. o.o;  
  
Severus hastily stepped into his first potions lesson after a hearty breakfast. Whatever was in his breakfast had certainly pepped him a little, and he made his usual dramatic entrance to his lesson, with a quick but powerful stride, cape billowing, and he commanded total silence and attention immediatly.  
  
As he did to all his lesons, Severus began with the register.  
  
"Draco...Potter..." he stopped, "...Miss Simander."  
  
He gave Amelia one of his trademark glares that made her breathing heavy, as though she were scared stiff.  
  
"As the newest student it is my duty to see how well you fair in potions. I must tell you, I won't put up with failures." As he said this he eyed a rather clumsy looking boy at the back, who stared at his feet in shame.  
  
"I'll use the same questions on her as I did Potter," he thought, as those were complicated questions, even for 6th years.  
  
"Tell me, were would you look if I told you to find a bezoar?"  
  
Someone must've put their hand up, somewhere at the back of the room, as Severus gave a death stare in that direction.  
  
Amelia shuffled her feet nervously, before looking up into his eyes.  
  
"The stomach of a goat, Sir."  
  
Severus cocked his eyebrows. He titled his head a little to the left, as he searched his mind for a more complicated question.  
  
"Name two ingredients I could use to make a potion that would cure boils."  
  
"U-Uh....uhm, Snake Fangs, dried nettles.....you could also use porcupine quills and-"  
  
"Enough," Severus snapped, "I only asked for two."  
  
Severus saw Amelia gulp uncomfortably, looking at the parchment laid out in front of her. It was only then that he noticed that she still had large rings under her eyes, and a sickly look about her. She twirled a lock of her hair around her finger shyly.  
  
"Well, you obviously seem to have some knowledge. But I must tell you, those were first year standard questions, and you seemed to have difficulty with them...I wanted a two-parchment long essay on making this-" Severus held out a book that had its page turned on something called "Polyjuice Potion", "by tommorow morning. Step-by-step, in the correct order."  
  
He watched Amelia look at the desk again, looking quite upset, as his lip curled into a smirk.  
  
"Severus, honestly, you really shouldn't be so hard on new students," Proffesor Flitwick told Snape, after he left his classroom.  
  
"Just breaking her in, shall we say. I am, quite honestly, fed up with students who don't appreciate the fine art of potions, and i decided to get the point across there and then. I don't want any trouble from her."  
  
They continued to argue over the matter as they climbed the stairs that led up to the staffroom. Snape rammed his shoulder against the wooden door (which had been sticking lately), and it gave way. The staffroom was especially warm, seeing as winter had now begun to settle in. Through the criss-crossed window Snape could see the sky starting to turn a dark navy, despite it only being half past four in the afternoon.  
  
The memories of the night when he saw that strange creature suddenly came back to him. He seized a nearby quill and scrap piece of parchment, and scribbled the creature, trying to remember of its fine details. He picked it up and walked over to Rubeus Hagrid, who was sitting in the corner near the fire.   
  
Hagris jumped back slightly when he saw Severus thrust the doodle into his face.  
  
"Well, uh, Proffesor Snape, it's certainly a nice drawing...."  
  
Snape's head drooped in digust, "I don't want you to evaluate my little drawing, you idiot, I need you to tell me what creature it is. You're the person with all the know of magical creatures, so tell me: what the hell is it?"  
  
Hagrid took the picture from him, and squinted his eyes as he examined it, turning it around every so often.  
  
"Ah! Dammit, I know this one..."  
  
"Then bloody tell me!" Snape snapped, now getting very impaitent.  
  
"Ah, thassaone. It's a Chido, they're rare creatures, only about a thousand or so left in the world. They're one third wolf, on third phoenix, and the other third is a total mystery, but it seems to be related to griffons and Hippogriffs, too." Hagrid looked pleased with himself.  
  
"Well, are they native here, in England?"  
  
"Oh, goodness gracious no. They need warm climates, these creatures do."  
  
Snape snatched the picture back and pinned it up on the teachers noticeboard, scribbling under it 'If you have seen this creature lately tell Severus immediatly', before storming off to lunch.  
  
Ah, sooooo, whats a chido doing over here? Find out next time on Medabots! I mean, uh...yeah. BTW, Chido is pronounced 'KEE-doe'. 


	3. Chapter 3: Obliviate

Severus Snape, Head of Slyherin House at Hogwarts and master of Potions, found himself in the staff toilets, clutching his arm as the burning pain whipped through his forearm. He grunted - every time his Dark Lord called to him this happened, and he knew he would never get used to it.  
  
"Constipation, Severus?" said a squeaky voice from outside the toilets. Severus recognised it at once as Proffesor Flitwick, who taught charms.  
  
"Shut up," he moaned, before storming out of the toilets and to his office, desperatly trying to stop the pain from reaching his facial muscles.  
  
"Severus! You didn't wash your hands!"  
  
Flitwick's hygenic prompt went unheard as Severus continued to storm down the corridor and out of sight.  
  
Amelia Simander, a girl recently transferred from the scottish school of witchcrafy and wizardry, had been sorted in Gryffindor the previous day. Yet a little shock came to Severus once he saw the enchanted note hanging on his office door. He said his office password ("Ebony") and quickly strode over to the fireplace.  
  
"ALBUS!"  
  
Almost instantly, Albus Dumbledore's head appeared in the fire, wearing the same warm smile as he usually did.  
  
"You bellowed?"  
  
"I give up. Explain, why has Miss Simander switched houses to Slytherin?" he said, his mouth twitching in the corners - he hated Gryffindor students, and even though she was transffering to his own house, he felt bitter towards it.  
  
"Well, Severus, for the simple reason that SHE wanted to."  
  
"....Um."  
  
Albus gave a small chuckle, "She loves potions - and since you're Slytherin head, she wanted to be around you more in order to get first hand experience in potion making."  
  
Severus sighed, "ALL my students know that whatever free time I have I spend in my office, NOT in the common room."  
  
All this talk of Amelia had taken his mind off the strange creature he saw a few nights previous, and decided to enquire about it to Albus.  
  
"Uh, Albus? Did you see my message on the staff notice board?"  
  
"I did indeed."  
  
"....So? Have you?"  
  
Albus gave one of his mysterious smiles that always seemed to annoy Severus.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"When? What ha-"  
  
But before Severus could finish his sentence, Albus' head had dissapeared into the flame.  
  
"Damn."  
  
After what seemed like an eternity and a day, it was night. Well, not night, it was only five in the afternoon, but with winter evenings the premature darkness followed. He stationed himself by the window, Pepped Pumpkin Juice at hand incase he felt the effects of sleepyness closing in on him.  
  
The lake looked like it would any other evening - its ripples gleamed in the moonlight (which, again, was a full moon, which made Severus smirk), as tentacles shot out at Swupus' every now and again. Severus looked at the stars - something which he had, surprisingly, not done in a long time. He picked out a few constellations and traced them with his wand, and, for some reason, he smiled.  
  
"Mr. Snape, please stop shooting down flies, and get back to your star gazing." came a rather dismal voice. Snape looked up at his astronomy proffesor.  
  
"Yessir..."  
  
"Hey Snivelly, got the answer to number four yet?" came the harsh voice of Sirius Black.  
  
"No. And even if I did, I wouldn't give it you - HEY!"  
  
Sirius had called Severus' parchment to him using the Accio spell. He rolled it open, and sneered.  
  
"You bloody liar. Now I'm going to have to hex you." Sirius whipped out his wand and started to say his chosen spell...  
  
"HEY! Don't even think about it, Black! Ten points from Gryffindor!"  
  
But Sirius had already started the spell.  
  
"EXPELLIARMUS!"  
  
Snape saw the light emitt from Sirius' wand, and hit him square in the stomach. Severus rolled down the roof, his spine slamming into the hard stone tiles as he fell. He saw the end of the roof come into view, and reached out for some sort of support, something to hold onto, but to no avail...he was mere inches form the edge, he was going to die....then he fell, and he was a metre or so from the ground-  
  
"NO!"  
  
Severus woke with a start - another nightmare, concieved from one of the memories he forgot to put into his Pensieve....she sighed, and ran his fingers through his hair.  
  
"....Honestly, I don't know what you want from me-"  
  
A young females voice rang out through the darkness. Snape bolted up, knocking his pumpkin juice out of the window, making a huge shattering of glas ring out through the deadly silence.  
  
Two figures looked up - Snape recognised one as the creature he saw last night, the Chido which Hagrid had told him about, the other was a hooded figure, with the build of a human.  
  
"You know exactly what I want. The blood that runs through your veins." The hooded figure had the deep voice of a middle aged man.  
  
"Well, you're not getting it, you foul, you evil-"  
  
Severus gasped. That thing could talk?  
  
"Well, then I guess I'm going to have to take it from you by sheer force."  
  
The figure whipped out an extremely long wand, it must have been closing in on about sixty centimetres in length.  
  
"CRUCIO! EXPELLIARMUS!"  
  
The Chido started to twich and writher in pain from the effects of the Crucio curse, before being slammed into a jagged rock from being blasted by the Expelliarmus spell. From where the rocks had cut into its back, blood that shone like rubies began to spill onto the grass. The figure started towards it, and even in the pitch black Severus could make out an evil smirk-  
  
"STUPEFY!"  
  
Severus bellowed into the night air, straight at the figure making towards the Chido. Of course, from the distance he was shooting it at, Severus missed, but only narrowly. The figure dodged it just in time, and looked towards him menacingly. He stepped backwards, and judging from the crack Severus heard after, he had dissaparated, though how, Severus wasn't sure - no one could apparate inside the Hogwarts grounds....  
  
Severus pulled out a very aged broom from his cupboard, and hopped upon it. He angled the tip down towards where the Chido lay. As soon as he was within landing height he jumped off, and ran towards the bleeding creature.  
  
The Chido had already started to get up, trying despearatly to cover it wound with its Phoenix wings.  
  
Now that he was right next to it, Severus was awed by its beauty. It's fur was a silver grey, its eyes a chocolate brown. The tail, which he had controversed over earlier, was more Lion like, and its feathers did indeed trail on the underside of its tail until about half way. It Phoenix wings glistened in the remaning moonlight of the early morning.  
  
"Stay still, let me-"  
  
"N-no...not you...I..."  
  
"What's going on out here?!" came the strict, ringing voice of Proffesor McGonagall.  
  
"I'm sorry, Proffesor, but....Obliviate."  
  
The Chido only had to use direct eye contact to use the spell. The blue light hit Severus' stomach - he doubled over and flew about 10 metres across the grass, until he finally stopped, virtually motionless, save the gentle rising and falling of his chest.  
  
"What the - SEVERUS!!"  
  
Severus managed to see the Chido fly away with obvious difficulty, before the darkness enveloped him.  
  
"Uhhh...."  
  
"My goodness, Severus, took you long enough. You sleep like a baby, you know."  
  
Severus craned his eyes open - the first thing he knew was that he wa sin the hospital wing. Out of the window he could see the sun slowly starting to creep over the horizon. Proffesor McGonagall was leaning over him, with a relieved expression worn into her face.  
  
"Minerva."  
  
"Well, at least that thing only used a small dosage of the Obliviate spell. You could have lost nearly all the memories you retain, you know, had it decided to."  
  
Severus sat up, with little ease - his head was sore, and he could feel a vein pulsating madly in his forehead.  
  
"That...thing...A Chido. It was a Chido."  
  
"I know, Severus. I asked Hagrid. But we have to inquire as to what it was doing in England, its far too cold over here for it to stay."  
  
"I think I'll...go back to my bedroom....gotta...do some....stuff."  
  
Minerva had to stiffle another giggle - using common slang was also VERY un-Snape like.  
  
"Poppy insists that you stay."  
  
"Poppy insists a lot of things." Severus proclamied, half way through getting up and out of bed. It was only then that he noticed that he was in his grey nightshirt.  
  
"Who undressed me?" he said, feeling a rush of blood swell into his face.  
  
A giggle emmitted from the corner of the hospital ward. Poppy tried to hide her embaressment, but to no avail.  
  
"...Right." Severus walked heavily back to his own bedroom.  
  
"Miss Simander, I am also ill, but do you see me complaining?"  
  
Severus had had Amelia come up to him before Potions to ask if she could possibly have the day off, claiming that she didn't feel well enough to attend classes. He was extremely snappy after the events of last night. Or was it early this morning? He couldn't remember -his head throbbed too much.  
  
"Well, you're, like, the teacher and, well....uhm, no, it....doesn't matter."  
  
Amelia walked off into the dungeon classroom, taking a seat at the front. Most of the Slytherin's had, surprisingly, warmed up to her, considering that she had once been in Gryffindor.  
  
Potions flew by, and after curing a Mr. Longbottom of swelling hands after being splattered with the Deswelling Potion they were making (Severus had clamied that he had forgotten to add the Dragon tendon, which was essential), Severus watched the students walk out of the class, of whom the last was Amelia, who had started to look tired. Severus shrugged it off, and waited for the next bunch of dunderheads to enter.  
  
His third lesson of the day was interupted when Proffesor Sprout burst through the door.  
  
"Severus, come. Now."  
  
Severus gave Sprout a look of deep confusion, a look did that not grace his features very often.  
  
Severus followed Sprout until he knew were they were going - the hospital wing. He overtook and burst through the doors.  
  
"Severus....one of your students..."  
  
Severus knew what was coming, and he was right.  
  
Amelia was lying in the bed, her breathing laboured, and with virtually no colour in her face.  
  
"What the...Miss Simander? What happened?"  
  
"She collapsed in my herbology lesson. She had looked extremely ill from the start, but I figured that she must've been alright, as I'm sure you would have let her have the day off if she looked this ill in the morning."  
  
Severus felt guilty, as anyone would.  
  
"...Yes....yes, she looked...better, this morning..." he lied quickly.  
  
Why? Why did I just do that?! he thought bitterly.   
  
He turned his head away.  
  
"Will she be alright?" he asked, but trying to hide his concern.  
  
"Well, she'll need a potion that will stimluate the bone marrow to create more blood. I'll leave that down to you."  
  
"Accio Blood Regenerating Potion." Severus said, halfway through Poppy's last sentence.  
  
The vial flew to him, and he let Poppy catch it. She gently tipped it to Amelia's mouth, who swallowed it, and colour had already started to return to her face.  
  
"Severus, could she have the rest of the week off? She'll be weak for a little while."  
  
"Yes...yes, of course."  
  
Severus strode away, not looking back.  
  
"Sir?"   
  
Severus looked up. Amelia was at his office door, looking much better, considering that she had only been treated a few hours ago.  
  
"Miss Simander, shouldn't you - I mean, Madam Pomphrey-"  
  
"She know's I've gone. She's the one who let me. Anyway, would you...I mean, did you set any potions homework today? For our class?"  
  
Severus gave her one of his calculating looks.  
  
"Yes."  
  
They stared at eachother for a full twenty seconds in absolute silence. Severus resisted the temptation to delve into her mind using Legilimency.  
  
"...So, uhhh.....could you tell me what it was? I'd like to do it."  
  
"Well that's certainly a surprise. No ones ever said that before..." Severus thought.  
  
"A two parchment long essay on potions that originate from Asia, their properties, and how to make them." Severus said, his lip curling into a smile.  
  
"Okay."  
  
With that, Amelia left, leaving a very confused Snape to watch her out of sight, before turning back to marking homework, being sure to give a lot of F's where necessary.  
  
"Forgotten to do your homework again, Mr Malfoy? Pity. I'm afraid I'll have to take a point from Slytherin."  
  
"A point??" Severus heard someone say, "If it was our house it'd be fifty!"  
  
"QUIET!" Severus barked, "Ten points from Hufflepuff!"  
  
He caught sight of a few giggles coming onto the faces of the Slytherin house. Despite not having stayed awake to see the creature again, he seemed to be enjoying taking points of houses that were not his own.  
  
"So...no one has done theit homework?..."  
  
It was at that moment that Amelia burst through the door, panting heavily. As usual, she looked fatigued, but not ill.  
  
"S-sorry I'm late, sir, Proffesor Flitwick had to talk to me....I-I have a note. And, uh, my h-h-h-homework...."  
  
She slumped down into a chair, handing the note and homework to Severus. He took the note first and read it, before saying "Very well" in his usual silky voice.  
  
"Well, then, I guess I'll only be marking Miss Simander's homework today. A point of every Slytherin who forgot their homework, which is...five, I believe? Though, I'm sure Miss Simander's work should make up the points....I hope."  
  
The Gryffindors and Hufflepuff's looked at eachother in shock - Snape hadn't taken any points off them!  
  
"Oh, and ten points off every Hufflepuff and Gryffindor who forgot theirs." he added, with a look of triumph. A loud sigh emmitted from every Gryffindor and Hufflepuff in the room.  
  
Soooo, chapter three was looong! o.o; I'm really having fun writing this - please RR! 


	4. Chapter 4: Transformation

Severus found himself once again in the presence of Hagrid, inquiring into Chido's again.  
  
"Proffesor, I 'onestly don't see why you're so in'errested in 'em. Do you need their feathers fer yer potions or something?"  
  
"No," Severus snapped, quickly getting bored of the half-giants accent, "I simply need to know what properties their blood has."  
  
"Their Blood? Uh, I believe it's kinda like unicorn blood."  
  
"In what sense?"  
  
"Healing powers and such, except its far more powerful then that. If you're an inch from death, it'll bring you back to full health and then some. It also makes you immortal for about a month."  
  
"So that would explain why that man needed the blood...but who was he?" Severus thought to himself. He strode off without so much as giving a thanks to Hagrid.  
  
Severus was getting more and more impaitent on the following lessons - he just wanted the day to be over and done with so he could station himself by the lake, and this time, catch the man and the Chido.  
  
"Miss Simander...you're homework, I must say, was above acceptable. Bordering on an B. But I must give it a C, it missed vital information."  
  
"Uh. L-like what, Sir?"  
  
"You failed to tell me who made these potions, and their motives behind making them. You'd do well to remember that."  
  
("Dammit, that excuse was crap.") Severus thought - it was certainly not in his nature to give out A's to any students, even to those in Slytherin. He watched Amelia stumble out of the classroom, and strode off to his chambers.  
  
Severus stationed himself behind a large bush, the same, infact, which he used to sit under every lunch time to try and avoid the gaze of Sirius and James, who would no doubt start to use their assortment of charms and spells to make Severus' life hell.  
  
Three hours came and went, and Severus was getting impaitent. No Chido, no hooded figure, nothing. He let himself fall backwards to let his eyes fix themselves upon the night sky, and unconciously ley himself drift off into sleep again.  
  
"Snivelly!"  
  
Severus winced as the familiar voice of his older brother echoed off the corridor walls.  
  
"Oi!"  
  
Before Severus could turn around his brother had whipped out his wand and thrust Severus into the wall, letting him slide down into a small heap.  
  
It was at that point that a man man with a crooked nose came striding down the corridor, sneering at Severus.  
  
"What do you think you're doing?" he said calmly, with a hint of menace tinting in his voice.  
  
"I wasn't doing anything, I - I was just oing to my bedroom and he Stupey-thingied me!"  
  
"Don't be daft, idiot boy. Your older brother knows no spells, he is only yet to go into Hogwarts. As a punishment for your lying, hmm....let me think. How about....no food tommorow? I think that would suffice."  
  
"Lucifer, don't you think thats a bit...harsh?" came his mothers voice.  
  
In an instant Severus' father had whipped around and slapped his mother across the face. She stumbled and whimpered in the corner, cupping her cheek.  
  
"Now, what was I saying? Oh yes..."  
  
He whipped out his mahogany wand from under his black robes.  
  
"Crucio."  
  
Severus snapped out of his dream, in a cold sweat. He ran his fingers through his hair and rubbed his eyes - definetly not one of his favourite memories.  
  
"...You may have escaped me last night, but it's not going to happen again." came a deep, male voice from across the lake.  
  
Severus lept up and hid behind the rock, peering out the side to get a glimpse of the scene.  
  
"You're not getting anything from me. I'm not letting you come back to full power....never."  
  
And who he saw made Severus swear under his breath, cupping his hand to his mouth.  
  
Amelia was standing there, opposite the hooded figure of the night before. she had a very scared yet determined look about her. She caught sight of Severus, and her eyes widened. She quickly looked away from him, back into the eys of the hooded man.  
  
"Try to stop me all you want. You're not going to succeed."  
  
Then the figure turned to Severus.  
  
He had been spotted.  
  
"And I'm afraid your Proffesor is going to have to go. Who is he? I cannot make him out in the darkness..."  
  
Severus' forearm had been burning for a whole ten minutes now, and it was only when the hooded figure turned to him that it burned again, this time catching his attention.  
  
"He's....no one. I don't know him. This is between you and me, leave him out of this."  
  
The figure raised its wand, straight at Severus.  
  
"Avada Keda-"  
  
"NO!"  
  
Amelia had lept at his wand and jogged his arm, making the green lightening bolt fire into the sky, illuminating the clouds a bright shade of emerald. He pushed Amelia back from him with all his might, sending her flying. He aimed his wand at him again, and muttered another Unforgivable under his breath.  
  
"Crucio Maximus."  
  
As the bright crimson light shot towards him over the lake, illuminating the ripples, Severus froze - Crucio Maximus was nearly the same as the Killing Curse, except the unfortunate victim died a slow, and extremely painful death. There was no counter curse, no way to avoid it....all he could do was watch the light glide over the lake, taking what seemed an eternity, watching as the moon finally peeked over the moutains...  
  
And then it happened.  
  
Amelia took a running jump at the lake. At first, Severus had thought she was going to dive into it, but then something startled him - she muttered something under her breath as she noticed the moon revealing itself, and she sprouted wings.  
  
Sprouted Wings? That doesn't usually happen to a human, thought Severus.  
  
It must been the shock of it all...perhaps this is all another dream, and this is another twist. As soon as the bolt hits me, I'll wake up.  
  
Amelia's limbs had started to widen slightly, and her clothes dissolved into her skin, making way for a rich silver colour fur to sprout. Her ears elongated and climbed up her forehead, while a long, feather-ended tail began to sprout from the bottom of her spine...  
  
Amelia the Chido raced across the lake at top speed, where her wings flapped frantically o the waters surface small droplets of water flew into the air, splattering the man on the other side, who merely smirked.  
  
Here it comes. As soon as this bolt hits me I'll wake up, in a cold sweat.  
  
But the bolt never did hit him. It hit Amelia instead, who had swirved awkwardly into the bolts path, hitting her in the chest.  
  
The force of the bolt threw her back to Severus' feet, as she twitched and cried in pain as the curse began to sink into her veins, spreading through out her entire body. Her eyes glazed over, and what were chocolate brown pupils were no now more then pure white, almost invisible...  
  
This is the part where I wake up.  
  
Any minute now.  
  
But Severus did not wake up, and Amelia moved no more, save the extremely laboured breathing.  
  
"Oh dear God..."  
  
Taking one last look at the stranger and turning his glance into a death glare, he raised his wand, cried "EXPELLIARMUS!" and called his broomstick to him, and conjuring a stretcher to hold the Amelia-Chido, flew up towards the hospital wing, not looking back to see whether his spell had hit the stranger.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - -  
  
Dun dun dun!!! what will happen? Does anyone care?? Find out next time on FRIENDS!! I mean....ObM. 


	5. Chapter 5: Recovery

"Poppy!"  
  
Severus, wand held out in front of him, carefully manouvering the large stretcher which held Amelia-Chido through the hospital wing doors, ran into the room, very breathless as if he had just run a great distance.  
  
"My goodness, Severus! What on earth is that? I can't fit it on a normal bed, its far too big!"  
  
"Poppy..." he managed in between heavy breaths, "It must be an Animagus or something it's a human...it's..." Severus couldn't bring himself to tell her that it was infact a student, "a human. I don't know who."  
  
"Well, I can't treat it in this state! Accio Transfiguration Potion!"  
  
The vial flew to her hand. She immediatly poured it into Amelia-Chido's mouth before Severus had a chance to object.  
  
"There. It'll take a few minutes to take effect. This is certainly unlike you Severus, saving a wild animal?"  
  
"I told you, it's a human...uh, yes. A human."  
  
"Age? Gender?"  
  
Severus watched as the silver fur started to shorten and change back into the Hogwarts robes.  
  
"....Fifteen. Female. It's a student at this school, Poppy."  
  
Poppy let out a long gasp, "Well, that's not something that happens everyday...an Animagus as young as fifteen? Who is it?"  
  
"I..."  
  
Severus hesitated - Amelia now lay in the spot where her Chido form had lay, still twitching. It was only then that he remembered that she had been hit with the Crucio Maximus spell.  
  
"Poppy, she's dying, she was hit with a Crucio Maximus spell," Severus said, trying to hide his sadness. Though he wasn't particularly fond of students, he always thought that he would certainly be stressed watching the slow death of one, and he was right.  
  
"She's going to die."  
  
A smile gaced Poppy's features.  
  
"Not today. She's in luck, a new potion was discovered by an Asian fellow, only last week, that can take the effects off."  
  
Severus looked surprised - why had he not been informed? Being the Potions Master of the school he would have thought that he would be the first to know.  
  
"Well?! Do it! Give her the damned potion!"  
  
Poppy was already through an Accio spell when he snapped at her. She tipped the contents of the vial down Amelia's throat, who stopped twitching almost immediatly.  
  
"Will...she be alright?"  
  
"In a few days at the earliest, yes."  
  
Then an emotion which Snape hadn't felt in such a long time kicked in - guilt.  
  
"Severus, you should go to sleep. Go back to your chambers or something, there's nothing else you can do."  
  
"I'm staying here," he said, sitting down on the bed next to Amelia's.  
  
Poppy sighed annoyingly, but turned on her heel and went back to her office.  
  
"Uh, Poppy? Could you not tell any of the students, or Proffesors about this?"  
  
"Why would I need to do that? Well, I can understand about the students, but nine tenths of the Proffesors already know."  
  
Severus' jaw dropped.  
  
"Well, Dumbledore knew when he admmitted her. She told the rest of the Proffesors, because they were always inquiring to why she looked so ill. I had totally forgotten about the hunch when you brought her in. Y'know, I went into that nurse mode. So that's why she always looked so tired. Hey, Severus are yo-"  
  
But Poppy's question was left unfinished as she noticed that Severus had fallen asleep, his head resting on the back of his palm.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - -   
  
"Don't even try to defend him again, you stupid woman!"  
  
Another sound of skin hitting skin hard.  
  
"P-please...don't hit me again....please...don't...hit him..."  
  
Another hard slap across the womans face.  
  
Severus hugged his legs to his chest, huddling in the corner, trying to shut out the carnage that was his fathers abuse on his mother.  
  
His father smirked.  
  
"As you wish."  
  
He suddenly turned to Severus, black eyes glinting furiously, an evil smirk creeping upon his face.  
  
"Crucio."  
  
"SEVERUS!!"  
  
Severus' eyes snapped open - he was still in the hospital wing, and judging by the shadows cast on the beds by the sun light, it was about midday.  
  
"Damn!!"  
  
He looked around - Amelia had left, and it was time for his lessons. He got up groggily, and rushed off to his dungeon.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - -   
  
Severus' late arrival to his lesson was greeted with loud giggles from every student in the classroom, even the Slytherins.  
  
"May I enquire into what is so funny?"   
  
He turned on a Hufflepuff student.  
  
"You."  
  
The Hufflepuff tried desperetly to stiffle his laughter, "It's just that, uh...(snort) You have a really bad case of bed hair."  
  
Severus ran his fingers through the back of his hair - indeed, his hair was so tangled that he could not even pull his fingers through. He gave everyone a death glare, with immediatly shut them up.  
  
"20 points from Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. Page 276. NOW. copy notes and diagrams."  
  
A loud groan emmited from everyone in the room. Severus strode up to his desk and started writing down everyone that would be put into detention, carefully trying to untangle his greasy hair with his fingers.  
  
He looked around - Amelia was no where to be seen. He sighed.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
"Proffesor."  
  
Severus looked up. Amelia was standing in his doorway, looking a little shaken but much better.  
  
"Miss Simander."  
  
"I need to ask about the homewrok aga-"  
  
"Not now. We need to talk about last night."  
  
He saw Amelia gulp. He waved his wand towards a chair in the corner of a room, which pulled itself up behind Amelia.  
  
"Sit."  
  
Amelia immediatly sat down, looking extremely nervous.  
  
"First of all, you are not allowed outside the grounds at night. Second of all, since when have you been able to take that form? Third, who is that man? And...fourth....thank you," Severus managed to say, with some difficulty.  
  
"For w-what, Sir?"  
  
"Saving me, of course, you stupid girl," his voice suddenly became harsh and serious.  
  
Amelia put her bag down onto the floor.  
  
"O-okay...first, I've been able to take that form since I went to Hawaii, fourteen years ago, when I was a baby. I wondered of and got scratched by a Chido, simple as that, and since then I've been able to turn into one at will, but only during the night. And second, that man....well...."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"....That man is, uh...."  
  
"Spit it out girl." Severus said harshly, making the girl jump.  
  
"Voldemort."  
  
Severus winced - so that would explain why the Dark Mark was burning on his arm that day.  
  
"And what was he doing, going after you?"  
  
"Well, you see....a year ago I was just flying over the Scottish mountains, minding my own business, when I was captured by a Death Eater. The next thing I know, I'm blindfolded, and I can hear something going on in another room. they were talking about extracting my blood and using it to fully regenerate Voldemort, and every Death Eater who's been reduced to a wizard with no magical power...who've been forced to live as muggles. And because I overheard them, and escaped, mind you, they're after me. And somehow, Woldemort's found a way to Apparate inside the grounds, so every student in this school is in danger, unless the barrier is strengthened, and I doubt anyones going to believe me. I also heard him say how he'll go under cover as a muggle to gain some new lackies. I wanted to follow him but...well, I was forced to go here instead."  
  
"By whom?"  
  
"The orphanage I stay at."  
  
"Orphanage?" Severus asked, with a hunch about what the answer was.  
  
"...Voldemort killed my parents while I was visiting relatives."  
  
Severus' heart ached somewhat when he saw streams of tears starting to slide down Amelia's cheeks.  
  
"Orphanages are horrible places. 'Specially when you're the most unpopular kid there, and the matrons are absolute bitches to you, night and day."  
  
She sobbed quietly, obviously trying to stiffle them - it was obvious that she didn't want to be seen crying in front of her head of house.  
  
Severus looked at the floor, stumped. What on earth could he do?   
  
He did the only thing that he could do. He slowly got up, walked around the table, and put his hands on each of Amelia's shoulders.  
  
"Come on, stop crying...it's...alright. Sssh." he said. He noticed how soft his voice was as he said this.  
  
Before he knew anything else, Amelia had flung herself into his robes, hugging him around his chest, crying hysterically. Severus began to push her away, but thought better of it, and returned the hug, half sympathetically, half reluctantly. After a minute or so, he slowly but softly pushed her away. Her cheeks were stained red, as were he eyes. He handed her a tissue, and she dabbed her eyes with it.  
  
"Sssh, ssh. Come on, you're not in the orphanage, you're at Hogwarts, no need to cry," he said, still in shock that he had actually hugged someone for the first time in years, even if it was half heartedly.  
  
Amelia managed a smile.  
  
"T-thank you, sir."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"For putting up with my babysih sobbing and whining...I know you're a proffesor, you shouldn't have to put up with it..."  
  
"Don't say that....I've sort of gone through the same thing's myself."  
  
Amelia looked confused.  
  
"As in, my parents are...well, they're gone. I've been bullied to no end, aswell. I know what it's like. C'mon, I'm sure you've made friends here at Hogwarts."  
  
Amelia looked at her feet, "One or two...they're in Ravenclaw, though. I hardly ever see the, except for Divination clas and at lunch, but seeing as he have to sit at our house tables..."  
  
Amelia managed another weak smile.  
  
"Anyway, sir, I....don't wanna keep you up."  
  
"Amelia, I need you to stay. Tell me everything you can about what the Dark Lord is up to....listen. I'm a spy for Dumbledore. I go to Death Eater meetings, as I'm sort of one myself. I need any information I can get on the Dark Lord as possible."  
  
Severus looked at the floor when he saw Amelia's reaction.  
  
"W-well....uhm, yunno how he's going to disguise himself as a muggle? I'm still intending to follow him. I can look after myself, but seeing as you need to find out as much as you can...why not come?"  
  
"Uh, come? As in....dress as a muggle?"  
  
Amelia nodded.  
  
"but they were such filthy clothes."  
  
Amelia giggled through her quiet sobs, "You'd be surprised, sir, their fashion isn't all that bad..."  
  
- - - - - - - - -   
  
Awww, the side of Sevvie we never knew he had! Weeeelll, it's all fan based, but still cute. Stay tuned! 


	6. Chapter 6: Urgh, Muggles

"Remind me again, Miss Simander. WHY am I dressing up as a muggle and, most of all, WHY am I letting you choose clothes for me?"  
  
Amelia giggled, blushing furiously, "Because, Sir, I have better muggle fashion sense, and muggles aren't accustomed to seeing a man wearing billowing black capes."  
  
Severus sighed, looking at the clothes Amelia had brought back with her from her excursion to central London. Amongst the line up were a fair amount of dark navy and black denim jeans, along with many white shirts, black shirts with logos or phrases on the front, and some kind of shoe she called 'trainers'. Amelia herself was wearing a black shirt white white stripes down the arms, and denim jeans that had a pattern embroided into the left leg.  
  
Amelia picked out a pair of navy blue jeans, a black shirt with some kind of grungy picture which made absolutely no sense on the front, and tossed the pair of trainers on the top. She held them out for Severus to examine, who looked disgusted.  
  
"...Uhm, Sir, perhaps you should get changed. I'll, uh, wait outisde."  
  
With that Amelia exited, giggling.  
  
Severus gave the clothes one more look of disgust, before taking of his robes.  
  
- - - - - - - -   
  
Half an hour later, and Severus looked quite the part, and somewhat handsome. He looked at Amelia, annoyingly. She laughed, obviously trying to hide it, and failing.  
  
"Yep. Quite the part, I'd say. There's just one more thing."  
  
Amelia pulled her hair tie out, and handed it to Severus, who took a step back when she held her hand out.  
  
"Sir, you'll have to tie your hair back. Muggles aren't usually accustomed to that kinda hair either. Though the odd few people do have rather eccentric hair styles, you'll want to keep a low profile."  
  
Severus was still staring at the hair tie.  
  
"Sir, I haven't got head lice or anything."  
  
Severus reluctantly took the hair tie and tied his hair up into a little bushy stump of greasy black hair.  
  
"Perfect. Sir, would you be able to write a note to Proffesor Dumbledore about my absence?...But, then again...I don't know if he would want-"  
  
Severus held out a hand.  
  
"I'll want to get it over as soon as possible, I hate these clothes already. You're lucky its the half term."  
  
Amelia looked at her feet, "Well, then, according to what I heard, Voldemort's gonna be hanging around in Birmingham. We'll have to catch a muggle train to get there. This would be a good time for you to learn some socialising skills."  
  
Severus threw a death glare at Amelia, and she immediatly shut up.  
  
- - - - - - - -   
  
"Miss Simander, it has only occured to me - we have no muggle money."  
  
"Oh yes we do." Amelia brandished a small plastic card with numbers imprinted onto it.  
  
"This is called a Credit Card. She those little machines built into the wall? You put this into the slot and you can get money out. This is the orphanages Credit Card, which I nicked when I went to get you some muggle clothes. Although you have to be eighteen to get one of these, I look old enough, so its no problem."  
  
Amelia pushed the small card into the slot, pressed some of the buttons on the keypad four times, then a fifth, before recieving five twenty pound notes from the machine. Severus watched in awe.  
  
"...I have to admit, it's a bit faster then the Gringotts goblins."  
  
"Yeah, but less safer. Muggles have made little machines which can copy cards and then, with that, they can steal your money. Gringotts would be the best way to keep money safe."  
  
"So, where now?" Severus asked, with a large tone of annoyance in his voice - he was taking orders from a student, dressed like a muggle, with muggles staring at him as if he were something they had stepped in by accident.  
  
"The train station."  
  
Severus looked up - it was Kings cross station, where Platform nine-and-three-quarters was.   
  
"We're getting on the Hogwarts Express? But thats-"  
  
"No, we're getting a muggle train. Honestly."  
  
Amelia hadn't meant to speak to Severus as if he were an oblivious five-year-old, but he hadn't seemed to notice - he was still staring at a car that was zoooming down the road at an alarming speed.  
  
- - - - - - - -   
  
After a shift looking station staff had given Amelia and Severus their tickets, it was only a short wait until the train came. Once Severus climbed aboard, his head drooped - all the seats were in one whole room, not unlike the Hogwarts Express, which had seperate compartments for the ultime privacy.  
  
"Quicky, Sir, seats tend to go fast."  
  
Severus quickly sat down in a seat with a table placed in the middle, which had another two seats on the side, which were already occupied by one man who was sleeping across both of them. While Severus had tried to save the seat next to him for Amelia, a rather large woman sat down there, and Severus only just managed to get his hand out of the way.  
  
"Sorry," he mouthed to Amelia.  
  
Amelia only smiled back, and she grabbed onto a small rail that was hanging over the ceiling.  
  
- - - - - - - -   
  
After five long stops spanning over 2 hours, the large woman finally got up, leaving the seat next to Severus free. Amelia quickly seized it. Amelia sighed, before turning away from Severus, who was still looking out the window, apparently in awe.  
  
After what seemed like an eternity, the overhead speakers finally called out "Now arriving at Birmingham New Street".  
  
After wondering furiously over where the sound had come from, Severus noticed that Amelia had fallen asleep - on his shoulder. He nudged her hard on her shoulder.  
  
"Miss Simander. Hey. Miss Simander."  
  
Amelia only groaned a little.  
  
"AMELIA."  
  
Amelia immediatly woke up, notcing that she had fallen alseep on Severus' shoulder.  
  
"Oh my God, uh....sorry. Oh God, our stop, c'mon."  
  
- - - - - - - -   
  
Severus stepped off the train and gasped - all around him were muggle shops, with muggles upon muggles walking past him, many often brushing against him, then telling him to 'watch it'.  
  
"Don't act so surprised, Proffesor."  
  
Upon calling Severus Proffesor, many people gave her odd looks.  
  
"Uh, Sir - if we're going undercover, I have to stop calling you Proffesor, otherwise it'll look suspicious and we could blow our cover. So, uh, you just call me, uhhh....whatever. Not Amelia, though."  
  
"Uh, alright....what was your middle name? Rebecca? I'll call you that."  
  
"Okay, and I'll call you....uhh...random name...James!"  
  
"NO," Severus said firmly, having remembered that James Potter made his life as a Hogwarts student a living hell.  
  
"Okay, okay...Steven. Steven?"  
  
Severus winced, "Urgh, what a common filthy muggle name."  
  
Amelia smiled.  
  
- - - - - - - -   
  
"So, when your Dark Mark thingy burns, you're near Voldemort, right? Then you can drop in on one of his Death Eater meetings, and get some cool info."  
  
"Please, REBECCA, I am fed up of your muggle slang."  
  
Amelia sighed. They had checked into a muggle hotel - seperate rooms of course.  
  
"Okay, Sir...uh, Steven, just try to get some sleep. I guess tommorow we'll go looking for him."  
  
"Fine." Severus snapped.  
  
"Well, okay....uh, night....Sev...Steven."  
  
Amelia walked out, shutting the door behind her. 


	7. Chapter 7: The Meeting

"Snivelly....father wants a word with you."  
  
Severus' older brother smirked - his tone of voice made Severus almost certain that whatever his father wanted, it wasn't good.  
  
Severus slowly descended the stairs of Snape Manor, glancing at the pictures on the wall as he went down, who sneered at him.  
  
"Severus. Tonight a high authority figure will be coming around for dinner...you are to make it."  
  
Severus sighed deeply.  
  
"And...what will you be having?"  
  
In these kind of situations, it would usually be his mother cooking and Severus helping...but his mother was gone.  
  
"Roast. Turkey, brussel sprouts, Yorkshire Puddings and stuffing. No peas or carrots. Now get to it."  
  
Severus sighed and looked at the floor, apparently in a daze. He even allowed his tears to come, not bothering to stop them.  
  
His father sneered again, and raised his wand.  
  
"Crucio."  
  
- - - - - - - -   
  
"Sir! Please, wake up!"  
  
Severus' eyes snapped open - another nightmare. Amelia was standing over him, looking very worried.  
  
"Sir...are you okay? You looked like you had been hit by a Crucio curse or something."  
  
"...I'm fine. Get back to your own room."  
  
Amelia was slightly taken aback by his retort, but procceded to walk over to the door and slam it shut, leaving Severus alone with his thoughts. Severus drank a clear liquid from a vial next to his bed, and turned over, hoping for a dreamless sleep.  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
"Cleaning!"  
  
Severus woke up almost instantly by a loud rapping on his door - the cleaner had come.  
  
"Uh...hold on a minute!"  
  
Severus rummaged around for his clothes, and quickly pulled them on, and went oer to the door. A middle aged woman with bredragled hair was standing there, with a bucket full of soapy water and a vacuum cleaner.  
  
"Cleanin'. Please allow me to enter your room, Sire, so that I may clean it, "she said boredly, in a heavy scouse accent, as if she had said this a million times already.  
  
Severus looked worried - scattered throughout his temporary room were bottles of potions he had brought from Hogwarts.  
  
"Uh - no, I'll, uh...I'll do it myself, uhm, yes."  
  
The woman gave him a strange look, before leaving, pulling her bucket and hoover along the corridor down to the next room.  
  
"Steven!"  
  
Severus thought someone else was calling for a totally different person, before realising that he was under the false name of Steven for the time being. He turned his head towards the call - Amelia was standing at her door, beckoning Severus to come over. He shut his door, locked it with a spell ("Alomoraho" he said under his breath) and went over to Amelia's room.  
  
"Miss Sim - Rebecca, what is it?"  
  
Amelia looked at his worried expression, giggling, "Why are you so worried? I just wanted to know if you were ready. We're mean't to be looking for any suspicious Death Eater looky characters today, aren't we? We were meant ot leave an hour ago."  
  
Amelia pointed to a digital clock - it said '13:45'.  
  
"There's a thirteenth hour now?"  
  
"No, Steven, it means it one fourty five in the afternoon."  
  
Severus looked angry, "Well why didn't you wake me up, you stupid girl?!"  
  
Amelia stepped back slightly. Severus sighed loudly, "Come on, lets just find this Death Eater meeting you're going on about and get back to Hogwarts. The muggles are catching on to me, I'm sure of it."  
  
- - - - - - - -   
  
"OW!" Severus shouted, right in the middle of a bus journey to somewhere called Sutton Coldfield. He clasped his right hand to his left forearm.  
  
"What? Is it?..."  
  
Muggles on the bus had turned around and given him an odd look, scowling at him.  
  
"The Mark. We're getting close," Severus said under his breath.  
  
"Steven, does it...hurt more when you start getting closer? I mean, is there a pinnacle amount of pain, or something?"  
  
"...Yes. And right now is the pinnacle, I might add," Severus grunted, still holding his forearm.  
  
"I don't believe it. C'mon."  
  
Amelia pulled Severus off the bus, and pointed across the road at a building that had a sign on it front, reading 'Walmley Junior School'.  
  
"That's the junior school I used to attend. You don't think?..."  
  
Severus had already crossed the road and was making to jump over the fence.  
  
"Steven!! What am I?-"  
  
"You stay out here. Those are muggle houses, right? Hide in a backyard or something. I'll go in and see...I'll be a long time. What's the time now?"  
  
Amelia glanced at the sun, then at the shadow of a tree, "About six thirty."  
  
"Right...well, here I go."  
  
Severus jumped over the fence and whipped out his wand, which he has hidden in his shirt. He muttered 'Alohomora', and the lock on the door broke off.  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
"Ahh, Severus, I didn't expect you to attend. Of all places, I had to use a muggle school."  
  
"My Lord. I have gathered useful information on Dumbledore, and I followed my instincts, and the Mark, here. I wish to tell you everything I now know."  
  
Voldemort glanced aorund at the other Death Eaters. There were only three, and Severus didn't recognise any of them.  
  
"Well, then. Do continue."  
  
"Well, Dumbledore is oblivious about the fact that you can now apparate inside the grounds. So, you are free to attack the school."  
  
"I know that, Severus. Tell me, lately, ahve you seen a rather strange creature lately?"  
  
Severus' stomach lurched - he knew instantly he was talking about Amelia.  
  
"Yes. A Chido."  
  
"Ahhh....good. If you see it again, please kill it for me, but don now dispose of the body. Instead, apparate to me, if at all possible, or leave it in a well hidden place and then owl me the location. I do believe thats all?"  
  
"Of course I will, My Lord. When will the next meeting be?"  
  
Voldemort cupped his chin in his hands in thought, "How about the Highlands of Scotland, somewhere around Christmas? That's the first time I saw that wretch of a creature, and theres a chance I will see it again, and then I can finally kill it."  
  
"Of course, My Lord."  
  
Voldemort smirked - he snapped his fingers, and he and his Death Eater trio vanished.  
  
Severus gulped hard, and exited the building.  
  
- - - - - - - -   
  
"So, how'd it go?"  
  
Severus only looked at Amelia, who had been hiding in a bush in a muggle backyard. It was now well into the night.  
  
"...You do know that they're out to kill you?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"..And...well, they've put me under orders to kill you on sight."  
  
Amelia looked dumbstruck. She backed away slowly.  
  
"Don't be like that, I'm not going to kill you."  
  
Amelia still looked apprehensive about moving back towards him, but slightly relieved.  
  
"The next meeting is in the Highlands of Scotland, around Christmas. He will transport me there, so around that time, I need you to stay away from me. For your own good."  
  
Amelia nodded slowly.  
  
"...'Rebecca'? Do any muggle buses run at this time?"  
  
"No. The only way we could...well, it's night, so..."  
  
Severus looked annoyed.  
  
"Are you suggesting that you transform into a Chido and I ride you back to Hogwarts?"  
  
Amelia nodded, also looking somewhat annoyed, and somewhat embaressed at the same time.  
  
"We don't have a choice, really. We're out of muggle money."  
  
"What?! But - I thought - you took out about two hundred pounds only yesterday!!"  
  
Amelia sighed loudly, "I was mugged, Sir."  
  
Amelia pulled back her sleeve to reveal a large bruise, and also pointed to her left cheek, which had a large cut across it. All this time she had been sitting in the darkness, and Severus had not noticed.  
  
"What the - why didn't you curse them?!"  
  
"Sir, I can't use magic outside of Hogwarts! On a muggle no less! I'd be expelled!!"  
  
"But - I could've - argh! I give up. Just transform so we can get back to the castle."  
  
- - - - - - - -   
  
Severus had great difficulty trying to get on Amelia's back. She was so tall it seemed like a near impossible task.  
  
"Sir, just stand on my wing! Just - OW!"  
  
"Sorry, hold still, I can't - OW! My leg!"  
  
"Sir, just - argh! OW!"  
  
Severus had pulled on her ear by accident.  
  
"Okay, enough's enough!"  
  
Amelia scooped her wing under Severus' foot and lifted him up onto her back, where her neck and body joined.  
  
"Okay, we need a good run up. See any cars coming your way?"  
  
"No, just hurry upu and fly, I feel uncomfortable."  
  
"Well you'll be happy then, it's a three hour flight."  
  
Amelia started running along the tarmac road, which was ice cold and tinted with frost as the cold weather started to settle in. Severus was forced to wrap his arms around Amelia's neck to get a good grip on her fur, as she started to slip around on the ice.  
  
"Simander! CAR!"  
  
Indeed, there was a red Corsa driving up the road at an alarming speed.  
  
"We're going to be spotted!"  
  
"No we're not! As far as muggles now I'm just a lovable horsey!"  
  
As they drew closer to the car Severus was starting to wonder why she hadn't gotten out of the way. It then became apparent, as she jumped onto the car bonnet and took off, getting a good leap at the sky, spreading her elegent orange-red wings and forcing them down with such might that she was propelled another five metres into the air.  
  
"So whats did the muggle think happened then?! A horse just trampeled their bonnet and took off?!"  
  
"Uh, pretty much!!"  
  
Amelia forced her body weight higher, into the clouds, where they would be concealed from any muggles that were still awake at the late hour of eleven thirty.  
  
"Wanna go higher?"  
  
Amelia had put her head parallel with the body, pointed out in front so Severus had a good view of where they were going.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"I said, Wanna go higher?"  
  
"And why would I want to go higher?"  
  
Amelia lifted her head up and went slightly slower.  
  
"Sir, have you ever been so high, that you're above the clouds? That you can see for miles? And have you ever been that high at night? Let me tell you, its one of the most beautiful things a human or a wizard can see."  
  
"No, I hav-eeeeeeeeeeeeeen't!"  
  
As soon as Severus had started to answer, Amelia had spread her wings out so far that she was caught in a massive updraft of wind, and they were thrown high into the air. Amelia kept a good balance, while Severus had initially shut his eyes.  
  
"Look..."  
  
- - - - - - - -   
  
It was exactly as Amelia had described it - they were above the clouds, the tops of the fluffy white substance was illuminated by the moon's glow. For as far as Severus could see into the sky, there were only stars.  
  
"Good Lord..." Severus said breathlessly. It was only then he realised that the air had begun to wear a bit thin.  
  
"Oh, Sir, I forgot, the air is thin here....we should go down."  
  
"No, stay."  
  
"But-"  
  
"We will stay up here. I can manage...I need to take it all in. This might be the only time I will get a sight like this."  
  
Amelia lowered her neck again, so that Severus could see the night in all its beauty.  
  
- - - - - - - -   
  
Awww, how cute. I liked writing this chapter, even if it does feel like I have a severe case of writers block.  
  
Oh, and FYI - Sutton Coldfields a real place. I know that because I live there. Also, the acotrs who play Fred and George in the movies live there. Later days, next chapter comeing soon! Oh, and please...I NEED REVIEWS. 


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